Botany Manor Coming to Xbox Game Pass, PC, and Switch in Spring 2024

The glorious gardens, graceful greenhouse, and dignified doors of Botany Manor will be open to the public during the upcoming spring. Today, publisher Whitethorn Games announces that the debut title from Balloon Studios will launch on PC, Nintendo Switch™, and Xbox in Spring 2024. As well, Botany Manor will be available day one with Xbox Game Pass. Set in a historical English homestead brimming with a lifetime of memorabilia and research to explore, players will uncover long-forgotten seeds and piece together clues as they solve puzzles to help each rare plant grow.

About Botany Manor:

The enduring estate of Botany Manor is home to retired botanist Arabella Greene. After a long career, she has amassed a collection of rare, long-forgotten plants that require some research to help them live again. Play as Arabella and explore the stunning historic manor and its grounds to look for clues in her notes, books, posters, and items scattered around the residence to determine the correct set of circumstances to help the flora flourish. Unlock new seeds and plant them. Interactable items around the property that can be turned and flipped will provide information to help you solve each gardening puzzle, grow the plants, and discover their mysterious qualities.

Key Features of Botany Manor include:

• Explore the peaceful grounds and many calming rooms of the beautifully rendered, historically accurate 19th-century manor.

• Pick up, flip, turn, and rotate the many items found around the estate to piece together the clues to solve each plant-based puzzle.

• Learn about Arabella’s life, career, and the challenges she faced as a woman scientist during the 19th century as you explore.

• Fall in love with the calming soundtrack that perfectly compliments the environment and flowers you bring to full bloom.

Botany Manor blossoms onto PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch™, and for Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X in Spring 2024. The game will be available on day one with Xbox Game Pass.

Accessibility Features for Botany Manor can be found here:
https://whitethorngames.com/botanymanor/accessibility

To keep your botanical research up to date, be sure to follow Botany Manor on TikTok,  Twitter, and Instagram, and visit the official website. Follow Balloon Studios on Twitter and the official website.

Keep up to date with Whitethorn Games on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, and Twitch, join the official Whitethorn Games Discord, and visit https://whitethorngames.com.

The Forest Cathedral, Available Now on PlayStation 5!

It’s time to uncover the truth behind DDT. Play as real-life scientist Rachel Carson in developer Brian Wilson’s Silent Spring-inspired environmental thriller, The Forest Cathedral, available now on the PlayStation 5!

Inspired by the events surrounding real-life scientist Rachel Carson’s investigation of the harmful pesticide known as DDT, The Forest Cathedral is a dramatic reimagining of Carson’s environmental science book Silent Spring. Players will take on the role of Rachel, who has embarked on a field research biologist position on a mysterious island. While completing her weekly tasks, she quickly realizes things aren’t as they seem. Players will slowly uncover the horrific effects of the pesticide using advanced environmental technology to complete puzzles that weave together 3D exploration with 2D platforming. What secrets will Rachel discover on this island? Many will try to silence her, but the truth always finds a way.

Key features of The Forest Cathedral include:

• Hey, Little Man: Switch control between Rachel Carson in the 3D world and the Little Man inside the 2D world of her advanced environmental scanning tools in order to solve puzzles and platforming challenges

• Nature in Peril: Explore a meticulously crafted forested island, dense with trees, animals, fish, and insects, all impacted by the dangerous effects of DDT

• The Sound of the Silence: The game features a fully voiced narrative to invest players in the harrowing history of the attempted silencing of Rachel Carson, backed by an enchanting original soundtrack

The Forest Cathedral is available now on PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, Humble Bundle, Xbox Series S|X, and PlayStation 5.

To keep up with all things The Forest Cathedral, be sure to follow Whitethorn Games on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch, by joining the official Whitethorn Games Discord, and by visiting https://whitethorngames.com. 

Accessibility features available in The Forest Cathedral can be found here: https://whitethorngames.com/theforestcathedral/accessibility. 

The Forest Cathedral, Coming to PlayStation 5 This Halloween!

Today, Whitethorn Games — publishers of inclusive, accessible, easy-going games, including APICO, Calico, Lake, and Wytchwood — is excited to announce that developer Brian Wilson’s Silent Spring-inspired environmental thriller, The Forest Cathedral, is coming to PlayStation 5 on October 31st!

Inspired by the events surrounding real-life scientist Rachel Carson’s investigation of the harmful pesticide known as DDT, The Forest Cathedral is a dramatic reimagining of Carson’s environmental science book Silent Spring. Players will take on the role of Rachel, who has embarked on a field research biologist position on a mysterious island. While completing her weekly tasks, she quickly realizes things aren’t as they seem. Players will slowly uncover the horrific effects of the pesticide using advanced environmental technology to complete puzzles that weave together 3D exploration with 2D platforming. What secrets will Rachel discover on this island? Many will try to silence her, but the truth always finds a way.

Key features of The Forest Cathedral include:

• Hey, Little Man: Switch control between Rachel Carson in the 3D world and the Little Man inside the 2D world of her advanced environmental scanning tools in order to solve puzzles and platforming challenges

• Nature in Peril: Explore a meticulously crafted forested island, dense with trees, animals, fish, and insects, all impacted by the dangerous effects of DDT

• The Sound of the Silence: The game features a fully voiced narrative to invest players in the harrowing history of the attempted silencing of Rachel Carson, backed by an enchanting original soundtrack

The Forest Cathedral is currently on Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. The game will be available on PlayStation 5 on October 31, 2023.

To keep up with all things The Forest Cathedral, be sure to follow Whitethorn Games on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch, by joining the official Whitethorn Games Discord, and by visiting https://whitethorngames.com. 

Accessibility features available in The Forest Cathedral can be found here: https://whitethorngames.com/theforestcathedral/accessibility. 

[Press Release] Christmas Comes Early With a Prequel to Lake – Announced Today During The Mix | Guerrilla Collective 2023 Showcase

Christmas Comes Early to Providence Oaks in New DLC For Mail Delivery Narrative Adventure Lake

Announced During The Mix | Guerrilla Collective 2023 Showcase, the Prequel Story, Season’s Greetings, Introduces New Story Lines and New Characters to the Peaceful Oregon Town  

Erie, Pennsylvania (June 7, 2023) – Today, developer Gamious and publisher Whitethorn Games unveiled the announcement trailer for Season's Greetings: a holiday-themed DLC prequel to the successful and relaxing mail carrier game Lake. 

In Season's Greetings, players will take on the role of Thomas Weiss, father to Lake's protagonist Meredith Weiss. The story takes place during 1985's holiday season, in the year before the original Lake game.

The trailer was first revealed during The Mix | Guerrilla Collective 2023 Showcase. Watch it here:

"We can't wait for players to jump back into Lake's world, which might look even prettier covered in a layer of snow, and cheered up with lots of Christmas lighting,” said Gamious' Creative Director Jos Bouman. "As far as we know, Season's Greetings might be the first game that doesn't just add a visual layer to make it a 'Christmas game', but is built from the ground up to let players experience a game in the true spirit of Christmas. With the annual bombardment of Christmas-themed music and movies, we think it's about time to add a holiday game to that tradition!”

"Players also don't have to worry that the Lake ending they chose won't be compatible with Season's Greetings, as the prequel takes place nine months before the events of Lake," adds Bouman.

Season's Greetings will offer the same relaxing gameplay as Lake. While this new chapter will star many familiar faces, it will also introduce five completely new characters to the town of Providence Oaks, each of them with their own slice-of-life storylines. Changing the perspective from Meredith to her father, Thomas, presents a new perspective on the relationship Meredith has with her parents for players to explore. Players will also get to find out more about some of the unanswered questions that were teased in Lake, and learn more about life in Providence Oaks and its inhabitants, and the positive role an amiable mailman can play in all sorts of small-town drama.

In Lake, travel back to 1986 and take on the role of 40-something-year-old Meredith, who leaves the fast-paced drudgery of her big city life and returns to her quiet, rustic hometown. During her two-week stay in the beautiful lakeside community of Providence Oaks, Oregon, she’ll fill in for her father – the local mail carrier – where she will not only deliver letters and parcels to new and old friendly faces but will also rekindle old friendships, make new ones, and maybe even find romance.

At the end of her vacation, will Meredith return to the big city, or will she choose a different path for her life? It’s up to players to steer the story how they see fit in this slice-of-life interactive game.

Key Features of Lake include:

• Travel back to 1986 and escape to a beautiful, rustic town that is free of the stresses of smartphones, the Internet, and social media.

• Ditch that city life and desk job and go to drive your father's mail truck in rural Oregon, or kick up your feet and let auto-pilot do the work.

• Choose from a variety of after-work activities that include hanging with friends, helping out your neighbors, or staying in with a good book.

• Experience a branching story that doesn’t shy away from slice-of-life themes. Like life, there are no right or wrong answers.

Lake is available now on PC via Steam, or Epic Games Store, on PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S. Lake: Season’s Greetings will be released on PC and several other platforms this holiday season. More info about the precise release date and launch platforms will be revealed in the coming months.

Follow Lake on Twitter, Facebook, and visit the official website, for more updates. 

For more updates from Whitethorn Games, follow the publisher on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Twitch, join the official Whitethorn Games Discord, and visit https://whitethorngames.com.

A press kit including art, screenshots, logos, and trailers can be found here: https://cozygames.pub/Lake-Press-Kit. 

To learn more about the accessibility features available for Lake, visit: https://whitethorngames.com/lake/accessibility. 

About Gamious

We are Gamious, a game developer based in Haarlem, The Netherlands. We love to create original and accessible games with pure gameplay – games we love to play ourselves. We either self-publish, work with publishers, or a mix between these two, to get the games to the right platforms. For more information, visit: https://www.gamious.com. 

About Whitethorn Games

We’re an indie game publisher focusing on pleasant, low-stress games that can be played in pieces, that require no special skills or knowledge and that anyone can pick up and play. We’re believers in accessibility, inclusion, and widening the audience that gets to play. We like to consider ourselves the defenders of easy games. While our games might challenge you, they’ll respect your time, they’ll make sure you can play, and most importantly, they’ll never punish you. Learn more at whitethorngames.com.

###

PRESS CONTACT

Lisa Mior and Yared Admasse
Whitethorn Games
press@whitethorngames.com
whitethorngames.com